Just what the doctor ordered - Who back
- Publication: News Letter
- Date: 2004-03-13
- Author:
- Page: 32
- Language: English
THE countdown has begun for the BBC to unveil the new Doctor Who and the cream of British writing talent has been drafted in for the return of the cult series.
However, after more than a decade since it was last seen on television, how will its most devoted fans react to the racier storylines that are being mooted for the modern Time Lord?
Russell T Davies, the brains behind Queer As Folk, is leading Mark Gatiss, of The League Of Gentlemen, and Steven Moffatt of Coupling in scripting the 13-part series for BBC One which will be shown early next year. Paul Cornell and Rob Shearman complete the team.
"I grew up watching Doctor Who, hiding behind the sofa like so many others.
"Doctor Who is one of the BBC's most exciting and original characters. He's had a good rest and now it's time to bring him back," Davies says.
"The new series will be fun, exciting, contemporary and scary. I'm aiming to write a full-blooded drama which embraces the Doctor Who heritage, at the same time as introducing the character to a modern audience."
Davies also says that the Doctor loses his asexuality and that the monsters in the opening episode are likely to be shop dummies rather than the Daleks that terrorise a London housing estate.
"I have a philosophy - I can do what I want. If we can think of the perfect story for him to fall in love, then he will.
"The purists may be up in arms, but there are more things to worry about in life. There is no pure Doctor Who."
Actor Tom Baker, who became the fourth Doctor when he began his seven-year stint in 1974, agrees wholeheartedly.
"People don't like changes in cult programmes but they've got to make some otherwise there's not much point in doing it, you might as well just promote the old DVDs." Antony Wainer, official spokesman of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, says the new series will get a positive reaction from fans who are simply delighted with the revival as well as the calibre of the writers.
"There is such excitement to get back the programme we have loved and missed for so long, I think we're ready to accept anything," says Wainer.
Caption: TIMELORDS: some of the actors who have played Dr Who in the past are Richard Hurndall, Peter Davidson, John Pertwee and Patrick Troughton, pictured with a waxwork model of Tom Baker, centre back
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- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Just what the doctor ordered - Who back | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Just_what_the_doctor_ordered_-_Who_back | work=News Letter | pages=32 | date=2004-03-13 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=5 December 2025 }}</ref>
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